Disk cartridge

ABSTRACT

A disk cartridge incorporating a disk-shaped recording medium and having an opening portion for carrying out a recording and/or reproducing operation by a recording and/or reproducing device. A disk holder is arranged at the disk cartridge for holding the disk-shaped recording medium and is configured so as to be mountable to a disk cartridge main body along with the disk-shaped recording medium and detachable from the disk cartridge main body outside of the disk cartridge so that the disk holder holds the disk-shaped recording medium independent of any orientation of the disk holder and the disk-shaped recording medium when the disk holder is detached outside of the disk cartridge. The disk holder holds information in respect of the disk-shaped recording medium which is presented in or by a recessed portion formed in a portion of the disk holder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a disk cartridge incorporating adisk-shaped recording medium such as an optical disk, a magneto-opticaldisk or the like.

[0002] Conventionally, a disk such as an optical disk or the like isused in a disk-shaped recording medium. These disks are frequently usedby being incorporated in a disk cartridge to preventrecording/reproducing error from causing by adhesion of dust and dirt orthe like to a record face.

[0003] In the meantime, according to a disk-shaped recording medium,when the record density remains the same, naturally, the larger thediameter, the larger the record capacity. Meanwhile, when a disk-shapedrecording medium mentioned above is used as a recording medium of aportable recording/reproducing device, for example, a video camera orthe like, a small-sized disk is excellent in portability. Therefore,disks having different sizes may be used for a disk of a portable deviceand a disk of a stationary device. In this case, a small-sized one isnaturally used for a disk cartridge used in the portable disk. When therecording system remains the same and the size of disk differs, if thedisk can be mounted to a recording/reproducing device,record/reproduction can be carried out by recording/reproducing meansinstalled to the recording/reproducing device. Therefore, by taking onlya disk from a small-sized disk cartridge and switching it to a diskcartridge having an outer configuration the same as that of a diskcartridge of a stationary device, the disk for potable use can berecorded/reproduced by a recording/reproducing apparatus for stationaryuse.

[0004] As a structure for taking out a disk from a disk cartridge, thereis provided a method of arranging a portion capable of inserting anddetaching a disk at a portion of a disk CO cartridge as disclosed in,for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-5-242626.

[0005]FIG. 20 shows a conventional structure of taking out a disk from adisk cartridge. A disk insertion and detachment port 12 c is installedat a position other than a position arranged with a shutter 3 c and adisk insertion and detachment port opening and closing member 8 c isarranged there. Normally, according to the disk insertion and detachmentport opening and closing member 8 c, a locking claw 9 is fitted to alocking hole 13 installed to a disk cartridge 1 c and the disk insertionand detachment port 12 c is closed. In taking out a disk 4, the lockingclaw 9 is disengaged from the locking hole 13 and the disk insertion anddetachment port opening and closing member 8 c is rotated centering on afulcrum, the disk insertion and detachment port 12 c is opened andinsertion and detachment of the disk 4 is carried out. In this case, thetaken out disk 4 is handled by the hand and accordingly, the record facemay be touched erroneously by the hand and may be contaminated thereby.

[0006] Further, the disk cartridge may be provided with informationinherent to an incorporated disk. In that case, holes or notches areprovided on the surface of the cartridge and information of the disk istransmitted to the device side by presence or absence of the holes orthe notches. As information provided to a disk cartridge, there are, forexample, information which can be switched by a user as in prevention ofrecording to prevent erroneous recording and information which has beendetermined from the start in respect of an incorporated disk as indifferentiation of a disk for music from a disk for recording computerdata. When the disk is moved between different cartridges, according tothe conventional method, only the disk is moved and information providedto a disk cartridge mentioned above is not moved.

[0007] Further, in recent years, a disk both faces of which are used assignal faces as in DVD-ROM/RAM has been spreading. In the case of such adisk, a printed face is difficult to set on the disk and accordingly, auser is difficult to grasp later information concerning the disk, thatis, what file name of data, software name, controller, date and so onare written therein. When a disk is moved between different cartridges,according to the conventional method, only the disk is moved, the diskis difficult to discern when it is taken out from the disk cartridge anda disk to be exchanged may be taken wrongly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention provides means, for moving a disk withoutdirectly in touch with it when the disk is moved between diskcartridges.

[0009] That is, there is provided a moving method for moving a diskalong with a disk holder as means for moving the disk without directlyin touch with the disk and according to the method, a disk cartridge isconstituted by a main body portion and a disk holder and when a disk ismoved, the disk is held by the disk holder, the disk is moved along withthe disk holder and accordingly, it is not necessary to directly touchthe disk.

[0010] For this purpose, there is constructed a structure in which adisk holder is arranged to a disk cartridge and the disk holder can bedetached from the disk cartridge main body. Further, the disk holder isprovided with disk holding member, when the disk holder is mounted tothe disk cartridge main body, the disk holding member releases holdingof the disk, when the disk holder is detached from the disk cartridgemain body, the disk holding member holds the disk and the disk isdetached from the disk cartridge along with the disk holder. Further,when a disk is moved between different disk cartridges, the disk ismoved along with the disk holder.

[0011] Further, there is constructed a structure in which disk holdingmember regulating portions are installed at inside of a disk cartridgeand when a disk holder is attached to the disk cartridge, the diskholding member is brought into contact with the disk holding memberregulating portions and are elastically deformed by which the diskholding member releases holding of the disk.

[0012] Further, there is provided a reverse insertion preventing meansfor preventing a disk holder from being inserted into a disk cartridgewith a surface and a rear surface thereof upside down when the diskholder is attached to the disk cartridge.

[0013] As reverse insertion preventing means, the shape of a diskcartridge main body and the shape of the disk holder are formed inshapes which are not fitted to each other when the disk holder isinserted into the disk cartridge main body with the surface and the rearface upside down and as reverse insertion preventing means, shapes ofthe disk holding means may be made asymmetrical in respect of the leftand right directions.

[0014] Further, according to the invention, when the disk is movedbetween different disk cartridges, disk information held by a diskcartridge can be moved along with the disk.

[0015] For that purpose, information in respect of the disk held by thedisk cartridge is provided at a disk holder portion. When the disk ismoved between the different disk cartridges, the disk is moved alongwith the disk holder. Then, the information in respect of the disk heldby the disk cartridge is provided at the disk holder portion and whenthe disk is moved to a different disk cartridge, the disk informationheld by the disk holder portion can be read by a recording and/orreproducing device.

[0016] Further, an information holding portion of a recording medium isprovided to a disk cartridge main body and the disk cartridge main bodyincorporates transmitting means for m transmitting information held by adisk holder to the information holding portion of the disk cartridgemain body in the case where positions of an information holding portionof the disk holder and the information holding portion of the diskcartridge main body differ from each other when the disk holder isattached to the disk cartridge main body.

[0017] Further, the information in respect of the disk of the diskholder can be detected at least from two directions.

[0018] Further, the information in respect of the disk of the diskholder is identified by presence or absence of notches at least over twofaces of the disk cartridge.

[0019] Further, in the case of a disk cartridge where movement of a diskis not needed, an outer configuration shape thereof is madesubstantially equal to that of the above-described disk cartridge andthe shape of the portion of holding the information in respect of thedisk is made substantially equal thereto. Further, the disk cartridge isprovided with a structure where only an opening portion equal to orsmaller than the outer configuration of the disk is installed and thedisk cannot be inserted into or detached from the disk cartridge bywhich a disk cartridge having a compatibility with thee above-describeddisk cartridge is realized.

[0020] Further, according to the invention, a region for determining thedisk information provided to the disk cartridge or a label region towhich a user can arbitrarily write information can be moved when a diskis moved between different disk cartridges.

[0021] For that purpose, the region for determining disk information orthe label region is provided to the disk holder. Or, there isconstructed a constitution of providing a label region to which a usercan arbitrarily write or erase necessary information and/or a regiononto which a label can be pasted. That is, the information which theuser can write and/or erase as necessary in respect of a disk isprovided to a disk holder portion and even when the disk cartridge mainbody is changed, the information of the disk remains in the disk holderportion.

[0022] Further, the label region and/or the region on which a label ispasted is constituted to previously provide a recess portion of 0.2 mmor more such that it is not raised in contrast to a face where theregion is provided even when a paper label or the like is pasted on thedisk holder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023]FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of the present inventionand is a view showing a structure of a disk cartridge;

[0024]FIG. 2 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and is aview showing a state in which a disk holder is detached from the diskcartridge;

[0025]FIG. 3 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and is aview showing a behavior of mounting the disk holder a to a diskcartridge having different shape and size;

[0026]FIG. 4 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and is aview in which the disk holder has been mounted to the disk cartridgehaving different shape and size;

[0027]FIG. 5 is a view showing an embodiment of the invention and is aview showing the structure of a disk cartridge;

[0028]FIG. 6 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and aview showing a state in which the disk holder is detached from the diskcartridge;

[0029]FIG. 7 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and aview showing a behavior of mounting the disk holder to a disk cartridgehaving different shape and size;

[0030]FIG. 8 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and is aview in which the disk holder has been mounted to the disk cartridgehaving different shape and size;

[0031]FIG. 9 is a view showing an embodiment of the invention and a viewshowing an outlook of a disk cartridge;

[0032]FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C are views showing the embodiment of theinvention and views explaining disk information transmitting meansinstalled to the disk cartridge;

[0033]FIGS. 11A and 11B are views showing the embodiment of theinvention and views showing a shape of a disk information holdingportion installed to the disk holder;

[0034]FIGS. 12A and 12B are views showing the embodiment of theinvention and views explaining the operation of the disk informationtransmitting means installed to the disk cartridge;

[0035]FIGS. 13A and 13B are views showing an embodiment of the inventionand an upper view showing the structure of a disk cartridge and a viewshowing a label;

[0036]FIG. 14 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and anupper view showing a state of detaching a disk holder from the diskcartridge;

[0037]FIGS. 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15E and 15F are views showingembodiments of the invention and explanatory views of a disk cartridgeand label regions of the disk cartridge;

[0038]FIG. 16 is a view showing an embodiment of the invention and anupper view showing a behavior of mounting a disk holder to a diskcartridge having different shape and size;

[0039]FIG. 17 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and anupper view in which a disk holder is mounted to the disk cartridgehaving different shape and size;

[0040]FIGS. 18A and 18B are views showing an embodiment of the inventionand explanatory views in which a disk holder is mounted to a diskcartridge having different shape and size;

[0041]FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D and 19E are views showing an embodimentof the invention and explanatory views showing stepped differences of alabel region of a disk holder; and

[0042]FIG. 20 is a,view explaining a conventional disk cartridge whichis a disk cartridge having a disk insertion and detachment port forexchanging a disk.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0043] An explanation will be given of an embodiment of the invention inreference to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 as follows. FIG. 1 is a viewexplaining of the structure of a disk cartridge according to anembodiment of the invention. A disk cartridge 301 a is installed with anopening portion through which a recording and/or reproducing devicemakes access to a disk 4 for recording and/or reproducing. A shutter 3 acovers the opening-portion to prevent dust and dirt or the like fromadhering to the disk 4 when the disk cartridge 301 a is at outside ofthe recording and/or reproducing device and the shutter 3 a is urged inthe closing direction by a shutter spring 2 a. A disk holder 5 which canbe detached from the disk cartridge 301 a is arranged at a portionopposed to a position where the shutter 3 a is arranged. In this case, adisk cartridge main body 1 a is defined by a remaining constituentportion which is constituted when the disk holder 5 is detached from thedisk cartridge 301 a. The disk holder 5 is attached thereto by engagingtogether locking claws 6 with locking holes 7 and when the disk holder 5is detached therefrom, the locking is released by detaching the lockingclaws 6 from the locking holes 7. The disk holder 5 is attached withholder arms 10 a and 10 b for holding the disk 4 and in a state in whichthe disk holder 5 is attached to the disk cartridge main body 1 a, theholder arms 10 a and 10 b are brought into contact with arm regulatingmembers 11 a and 11 b and are elastically deformed in a direction ofreleasing the holding state of the disk 4. Further, the shapes of theleft holder arm 10 a and the right holder arm 10 b differ from eachother and in this embodiment, according to the shape of the holder arm10 a, an accurate angle portion at a front end of the holder arm 10 b isremoved. The arm regulating member 11 a is formed to engage with theshape. By forming the shapes of the left and right holder arms 10 a and10 b in this way, in attaching the disk holder 5, insertion thereof withthe surface and the rear face upside down can be prevented. That is, inthe case of the embodiment, when the disk holder 5 is inserted with thesurface and the rear face upside down, the front end of the holder arm10 b is brought into contact with the arm regulating member 11 a and thedisk holder 5 cannot be completely inserted. Although according to theembodiment, reverse insertion is prevented by constituting the left andright arm holders 10 a and 10 b and the left and right arm regulatingmembers 11 a and 11 b are asymmetrical from each other, the constitutionis not limited thereto but the reverse insertion may be prevented by amethod in which, for example, a protrusion or recess is installed toonly one of the left and right disk holders and a shape matching theprotrusion or the recess is arranged in a disk cartridge.

[0044]FIG. 2 shows a view in which the disk holder 5 is detached fromthe disk cartridge 301 a according to the embodiment. As shown by thedrawing, the holder arms 10 a and 10 b installed to the disk holder 5are formed to hold the disk 4. Although when the disk holder 5 isattached to the disk cartridge main body 1 a, the holder arms 10 a and10 b are elastically deformed by the arm regulating members 11 a and 11b and are released from holding the disk 4, when the disk holder 5 isdetached therefrom, the holder arms 10 a and 10 b recover to originalshapes and hold the disk 4. Thereby, when the disk holder 5 is detached,the disk holder 5 can be detached along with the disk 4. In this case,an operator does not directly touch the disk 4 and therefore, fat, oilor the like of the hand does not adhere thereto.

[0045] An explanation will be given of a method of moving the disk 4held by the disk holder 5 to a disk cartridge having different shape andsize in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a view showing a diskcartridge main body 1 b having shape and size different from those ofthe disk cartridge 301 a in correspondence with the disk holder 5 ofFIG. 1. The disk cartridge main body 1 b is a disk cartridge larger thanthe disk cartridge main body 1 a. The disk cartridge main body 1 b isarranged with a shutter 3 b and a shutter spring 2 b similar to the diskcartridge main body 1 a. Further, arm regulating members 11 c and 11 dfor elastically deforming the holder arms 10 a and 10 b are arranged atinside thereof. Different shapes are also constituted for left and rightarm regulating members a 11 c and 11 d for preventing reverse insertionand correspond to the shapes of the holder arms 10 a and 10 b. A diskinsertion and detachment port 12 b for inserting and detaching the diskholder 5 is provided at a portion opposed to a position in which theshutter 3 b is arranged and the disk insertion and detachment port 12 bcan be opened and closed by a disk insertion and detachment opening andclosing member 8 b. The disk insertion and detachment port opening andclosing member 8 b is locked by engaging a locking claw 9 to a lockinghole 13 and by disengaging the locking claw 9, the locking is releasedand the port can be opened.

[0046] The disk 4 is moved by inserting the disk holder 5 holding thedisk 4 into the disk insertion and detachment port 12 b and closing thedisk insertion and detachment port opening and closing member 8 b and bythe operation the movement of the disk 4 into the disk cartridge mainbody 1 b is completed with no direct touch with the disk 4. FIG. 4 is aview showing a disk cartridge 301 b in which the disk 4 has beenattached to the disk cartridge main body 1 b. Similar to the diskcartridge main body 1 a, the holder arms 10 a and 10 b are elasticallydeformed in a direction of releasing the holding state of the disk 4 attime point at which the disk holder 5 is inserted into the diskcartridge main body 1 b.

[0047] By the above-described constitution, the disk can be movedbetween different cartridges with no direct touch with the disk.

[0048] Next, an explanation will be given of successive embodiments ofthe invention in reference to FIG. 5 through FIG. 12. A disk holder 105is installed with sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d, 15 a, 15 b, 15 cand 15 d for having a recording and/or reproducing device determineinformation of a disk. According to the embodiment, both faces of thedisk 4 can be used as a premise and each of the sensing areas 14 a, 14b, 14 c and 14 d and the sensing areas 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d holdsinformation of one face thereof. Accordingly, the sensing areas 14 a, 14b, 14 c and 14 d and the sensing areas 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d areinstalled at positions symmetrical with each other in respect of thesurface and the rear face. Further, the sensing area of the embodimentis identified by 1 bit constituted by presence or absence of a notch atthe disk holder 105 as shown by FIGS. 11A and 11B. According to a diskcartridge 17 a, the sensing areas are prepared at 4 locations in respectof one face and accordingly, information of 4 bits can be held. Asinformation which can be held by the sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and14 d and the sensing areas 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d, there are, forexample, a piece of information which can be switched by a user forprevention of recording to prevent erroneous recording and a piece ofinformation which has already been determined from the start in respectof a disk to be incorporated as in differentiation of a disk for musicuse from a disk for recording computer data or differentiation of a diskin correspondence with one face from a disk in correspondence with bothfaces. By reading information of the sensing areas, information of thedisk 4 in the disk cartridge 17a can previously be detected by arecording and/or reproducing device.

[0049]FIG. 6 is a view in which a disk holder 105 is detached from thedisk cartridge 17 a. When the disk holder 105 is detached therefrom,holder arms 113 a and 113 b installed to the disk holder 105 hold thedisk 4 and the disk 4 can also be taken out therefrom along therewith.In this case, a user does not directly touch the disk 4 and accordingly,fat, oil or the like of the hand does not adhere thereto. An explanationwill be given of a behavior of attaching the disk holder 105 to otherdisk cartridge main body 101 b in reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. FIG. 7is a view showing the shape of the disk cartridge main body 101 b havingshape and size different from those of a disk cartridge main body 101 aof FIG. 5 to which the disk holder 105 corresponds. A notch 107penetrated to inside of the disk cartridge is installed at the vicinityof a disk insertion and detachment port 112 b. FIG. 8 is a view showinga state in which the disk 4 has been attached to the disk cartridge mainbody 101 b. The sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and 14 d installed to thedisk holder 105 are exposed to outside of the disk cartridge via thenotch 107 installed to the disk cartridge main body 101 b and arecording and/or reproducing device can previously detect information ofthe disk 4 by reading information of the sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 cand 14 d. In this way, when a disk is moved between different diskcartridges, disk information held by the disk cartridge can also bemoved.

[0050] An explanation will be given of another embodiment of theinvention in reference to FIG. 9 through FIG. 12. FIG. 9 shows alarge-sized disk cartridge 17 c similar to the disk cartridge shown byFIG. 7 in the previous embodiment. Originally, a disk having a diameterlarger than that of the disk 4 shown by the previous embodiment is usedin a disk cartridge having shape and size the same as those of the diskcartridge 17 c. Therefore, the disk information is also provided at aportion proximate to an end of the disk cartridge to preventinterference with a large diameter disk. Therefore, disk informationdetecting means of a recording and/or reproducing device for use of alarge-sized disk cartridge is also installed at a position incorrespondence with the disk information providing portion. Hence, alsoin a disk cartridge main body 101 c capable of exchanging disksaccording to the invention, sensing areas 16 a, 16 b, 16 c and 16 dholding disk information are installed at position the same as those inan original large-sized disk cartridge. The disk information of the diskholder 105 is dealt with by installing transmitting means for detectinginformation of the sensing areas of the disk holder 105 and transmittingthe information to the sensing areas of the disk cartridge main body 101c. By the transmitting means, detecting means exclusive for the sensingareas of the disk holder 105 needs not to install at a recording and/orreproducing device.

[0051] An explanation will be given of an embodiment of disk informationtransmitting means in reference to FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C and FIGS. 11Aand 11B. As shown by FIGS. 11A and 11B, the disk holder 105 (shown inFIG. 7) is provided with 4 locations of the sensing areas in respect ofone face thereof where 4 bits of information can be held. In detectingthe sensing areas, a recording and/or reproducing device makes accessfrom a lower face of a disk, that is, from B direction of FIG. 11A anddisk information transmitting means of the disk cartridge main body 101c of FIG. 10A makes access from A direction. Accordingly, as shown byFIG. 11A, the sensing areas 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d of the disk holder105 are identified by presence or absence of notches over 2 faces suchthat they can be detected from 2 directions. The notch portions may bean erroneous recording preventing portion 20 and so on for switchinginformation later by a user as shown by FIG. 11B. In the meantime, thedisk information transmitting means is constituted by sensor arms 111 a,111 b, 111 c and 111 d, sensor pins 18 a, 18 b, 18 c and 18 d andtorsional springs 19 a, 19 b, 19 c and 19 d as shown in FIG.10A,10B,10C. FIG. 10A is a penetrating view of the disk w informationtransmitting means and FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C are perspective viewsshowing positions of the sensor arms 111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d andarm rotational centers 110 a, 110 b, 110 c and 110 d. The sensor arms111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d are rotatable respectively around the armrotational centers 110 a, 110 b, 10 c and 10 d and are urged in onedirection by the torsional springs 19 a, 19 b, 19 c and 19 d. In thiscase, front ends of the sensor arms 111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d aredisposed at positions of the sensing areas 16 a, 16 b, 16 c and 16 d.Further, the sensor arms 111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d are rotatedaround the arm rotational centers 110 a, 110 b, 110 c and 110 d whenforces are exerted at position designated by arrow marks of FIG. 10B andfront ends of the sensor arms 111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d are movedand accordingly, recess portions are caused at the sensing areas 16 a,16 b, 16 c and 16 d. The sensor pins 18 a, 18 b, 18 c and 18d arearranged respectively in correspondence with positions of the sensingareas 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and 14 d of the disk holder 105 and transmitpresence or absence of notches of the sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and14 d of the disk holder 105 (shown in FIG. 7) to the sensor arms 111 a,111 b, 111 c and 111 d.

[0052] A specific explanation will be given of the operation of the diskinformation transmitting means in reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B. FIGS.12A and 12B are views explaining a state of one bit of disk information.As shown by FIG. 12A, when a notch is present in the sensing area 14 bof the disk holder 105 (shown in FIG. 7), the sensor pin 18 b enters thenotch and the sensor arm 111 b is not pushed. Therefore, the sensor arm111 b is urged to an initial position by the torsional spring 19 b andthe sensing area 16 b is closed by a front end portion of the sensor arm111 b. In the meantime, when there is no notch in the sensing area 14 bof the disk holder 105 as shown by FIG. 12B, the sensor pin 18 b ispushed by a wall face of the disk holder 105 and pushes the sensor arm111 b. Therefore, the sensor arm 111 b is rotated around the armrotational center 110 b, the front end portion of the sensor arm 111 bis moved and accordingly, a recess portion is caused at the sensing area16 b. Further, a recording and/or reproducing device detects the diskinformation by determining presence or absence of the recess portion ofthe sensing area 16 b of the disk cartridge 17 c.

[0053] In this way, the disk information can be transmitted from thedisk holder 105 to the disk cartridge main body 101 c by the diskinformation transmitting means.

[0054] Further, when a disk cartridge which needs not to move a disk ina recording and/or reproducing device using the disk cartridge accordingto the invention, by substantially equalizing an outer configuration ofa disk cartridge and by using a disk cartridge having no disk holder andprescribing only sensing areas to the same shapes, a disk cartridgehaving compatibility in which parts such as a disk holder and the likeare reduced can be realized.

[0055] By the above-described constitution, when a disk is moved betweencartridges having different shapes and sizes, disk information held by acartridge can also be moved simultaneously.

[0056] Next, an explanation will be given of successive embodiments ofthe invention in reference to FIGS. 13A through FIG. 19E. In this case,according to the embodiments, there is constructed a constitution inwhich a disk holder 205 is installed with a label region 30 to whichinformation necessary for a disk can be written or a label 31 as shownby FIG. 13B can be formed and pasted on the label region 30 in view ofachieving storage or convenience in use of the disk 4 by a user.Further, although FIG. 13A shows a case in which the label region 30 isdisposed on an upper face thereof, the invention is not limited theretobut the label region 30 may be disposed on one face on the rear side ofthe disk holder 205 and naturally may be both faces thereof.

[0057]FIG. 14 is an upper view when the disk holder 205 is detached fromthe disk cartridge main body 201a according to the embodiment.

[0058] Successively, an explanation will be given of further embodimentsin reference to FIGS. 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15E and 15F. FIG. 15A is aview viewing a disk cartridge 217 a of FIG. 13 in an arrow mark Adirection and FIG. 15B is a view viewing the disk cartridge 217 a ofFIG. 13 in an arrow mark B′ direction, respectively.

[0059] Although in the previous embodiment, a description has been givenof a case in which the label region 30 is used on the upper face of thedisk holder 205, according to the embodiment, as shown by FIG. 15A,there is shown a case in which a label region 32 is provided on thefront face of the disk holder 205. Also in this method, information ofthe disk can easily be determined by the user.

[0060] Further, an explanation will be given of further embodiments inreference to FIG. 15C, FIG. 15D and FIG. 15E.

[0061]FIG. 15C shows an upper view of a disk cartridge according to theinvention, FIG. 15D shows a front view thereof and FIG. 15E shows a sideview thereof, respectively. Further, in FIG. 15C, a shutter and holderarms are omitted for simplification. In FIGS. 15C, 15D and 15E, numeral4 designates the disk, numeral 205 designates the disk holder andnotation 201 c designates a disk cartridge main body which is differentfrom the disk cartridge main body 201a shown by FIG. 13 in a state inwhich the disk holder 205 is locked by the disk cartridge main body 201c, respectively. According to the disk cartridge of the invention, in astate in which the disk holder 205 is locked by the disk cartridge mainbody 201 c, the upper face and the side faces of the disk holder 205 arecovered by the disk cartridge main body 201 c and accordingly, when thelabel region is provided, for example, on the upper face of the diskholder 205, the label region is concealed. However, by providing thelabel region 32 on the front face of the disk holder 205 as in theinvention, the user can easily confirm information of the disk.

[0062] Further, an explanation will be given of further embodiment inreference to FIG. 15F. FIG. 15F shows a view viewing the disk cartridge217 a from an arrow mark B direction in FIG. 13. According to theinvention, there is provided a constitution in which a hole 201 b in awindow-like shape is opened on a side face of the disk cartridge 217 aand a side face portion of a holder arm 213 b can be seen. Further, alabel region 33 is provided at the side face portion of the holder arm213 b and by arbitrarily writing information to the region by the user,information of the disk 4 can easily be determined. Further, there maybe constructed a structure in which a transparent sheet member is pastedon the hole 201 b in a window-like shape such that dust or dirt isprevented from invading from outside to inside of the disk cartridge andthe label region 33 can be recognized.

[0063] As has been explained above in reference to FIG. 13A through FIG.15E, when the label region 30, 32 and 33 are present in the disk holder205, the label regions are installed on the upper face and/or the frontface and/or the side face of the holder arm 213 portion integrallyconstituted with the disk holder 205 and in that case, the constitutionmay be dealt with by forming a shape in which a hole is opened in awindow-like shape at a portion of the disk cartridge main body such thatthe label region can be confirmed when the disk holder is attached tothe disk cartridge main body 201 a or 201 c and a similar effect can beachieved.

[0064] When the label regions 30, 32 and 33 are used in this way, forexample, file name, software name, controller, date, information by barcodes and so on of data written to a disk can freely be written orerased such that the user can easily use it. The user may describenecessary content to the label regions 30, 32 and 33 directly by awriting instrument such as a “felt-tip pen” or the like or may form thepaper label 31 or the like separately as mentioned above and thereaftermay paste it on the label region 30 and/or the label region 32 and/orthe label region 33. Thereby, the disk holder 205 can be used similar toa paper label generally pasting on a floppy disk or the like, the usercan easily determine the disk and accordingly, easiness of use issignificantly promoted.

[0065] Successively, an explanation will be given of an embodiment whenthe disk holder 205 is attached to other disk cartridge main body inreference to FIG. 16 and FIG. 17. FIG. 16 is a view showing the shape ofa disk cartridge main body 201 f having shape and size different fromthose of the disk a cartridge main body 201 a of FIG. 13. The diskcartridge main body 201 f is a disk cartridge larger than the diskcartridge main body 201 a. A shutter 203 f similar to that of the diskcartridge main body 201 a is arranged at the disk cartridge main body201 f. A disk insertion and detachment port 212 f for inserting anddetaching the disk holder 205 is provided at a portion opposed to aposition at which the shutter 203 f is arranged and can be opened andclosed by a disk insertion and detachment port opening and closingmember 208 f. The disk insertion and detachment portion opening andclosing member 208 f is locked by a locking claw 209 and can be openedby releasing the locking by disengaging the locking claw 209. The disk 4is moved by inserting the disk holder 205 holding the disk 4 into thedisk insertion and detachment port 212 f and closing the disk insertionand detachment port opening and closing member 201 f and by theoperation, the movement of the disk 4 into the disk cartridge main body201 f is completed with no direct touch with the disk 4. Further, anotch 207 penetrating the inside of the disk cartridge is installed at avicinity of the disk insertion and detachment port 212 f. Further, thelabel region 30 is provided in the disk holder 205 and the user freelywrites information concerning the disk or describes informationnecessary for the disk 4 to the label 31 and pastes it.

[0066]FIG. 17 is a view showing a state in which the disk 4 is attachedto the disk cartridge main body 201 f. In this case, the label region 30installed to the disk holder 205 is exposed to the outside of the diskcartridge via the notch 207 installed to the disk cartridge main body201 f and the user can u easily confirm content of the disk 4 byinformation of the label region 30.

[0067] Further, in the invention, so far as the disk cartridge main body201 f is provided with shape and/or material by which the label regionon the disk holder 205 can be seen when the disk holder 205 is attachedthereto, shape, size and position of the notched portion are notparticularly prescribed. Further, there may be constructed anyconstitution whereby the label region can be confirmed by forming ashape in which a hole in a window-like shape substituting for thenotched portion of the disk cartridge is provided at the disk cartridgemain body 201 f and pasting a transparent sheet on the hole in awindow-like shape.

[0068] Successively, an explanation will be given of further embodimentin reference to FIGS. 18A and 18B.

[0069]FIG. 18A shows a view viewing FIG. 17 from an arrow mark Cdirection after opening the disk insertion and detachment port openingand closing member 208 f. Further, the disk insertion and detachmentport opening and closing member 208 f is omitted for simplification.Also in this case, by providing the label region 32 on the front face ofthe disk holder 205, by only opening the disk insertion and detachmentport member 208 f without taking out the disk 4 from the disk cartridge201 f, the content of the disk 4 can easily be recognized by informationdescribed in the label region 32.

[0070] Further, FIG. 18B shows a view viewing a disk cartridge 217 f inFIG. 17 from an arrow mark D direction. According to the invention,there is constructed a constitution in which a hole 201 g in awindow-like shape is opened at a side face of the disk cartridge 217 fand the side face of a holder arm 213 b can be seen. Further, the labelregion 33 is provided at the side face portion of the holder arm 213 band by arbitrarily writing information by the user by using the region,information of the disk 4 can easily be determined. Further, there maybe constituted a structure in which a transparent sheet member is pastedon the hole 201 g in a window-like shape such that dust or dirt can beprevented from invading from outside to inside of the disk cartridge andthe label region 33 can be recognized.

[0071] Successively, an explanation will be given of further embodimentin reference to FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D and 19E.

[0072] According to the invention, a recess portion is provided at alabel region and/or a region capable of pasting a label.

[0073]FIG. 19A is an upper view of a disk holder 215 and FIG. 19B is asectional view taken from a line E-E of FIG. 19A. G According to theexample of the invention, a label region and/or a region capable ofpasting a label is provided on the upper face of the disk holder.

[0074] Although the constitution and the function of the disk holder 215are substantially the same as those of the above-described disk holder205, a label region and/or a region 34 capable of pasting a label isformed in a shape recessed by 0.2 mm or more from a face 37 where theregions are provided. When the label 31 is, for example, a paper label,the thickness is about 0.1 through 0.2 mm and accordingly, even when thepaper label is pasted on the label region and/or the region 34 capableof pasting a label, the label 31 is not raised in a projected shape incontrast to the face 37 having the label region. Hence, even when thedisk holder 215 is locked to a disk cartridge main body, notillustrated, dimensions of outer configuration of the disk cartridge arenot changed and accordingly, it can be mounted to a recording and/orreproducing device with no hazard. Further, although according to theembodiment, the label region and/or the region capable of pasting alabel is constituted to provide on the upper face of the disk holder215, it may be provided on the lower face in accordance with necessityof the user or may be constituted to provide on both faces of upper andlower faces.

[0075] Further, FIG. 19C is a front view of a disk holder 225 and FIG.19D is a sectional view taken from a line F-F of FIG. 19C. According tothe example of the invention, a label region and/or a region 36 capableof pasting a label is constituted A to provide on the front face of thedisk holder. Although the constitution and the function of the diskholder 225 are substantially the same as those of the above-describeddisk holder 205, the label region and/or the region 36 capable ofpasting a label is formed in a shape recessed by 0.2 mm or more from aface 38 where the regions are provided. When the label 31 is, forexample, a paper label, the thickness is about 0.1 through 0.2 mm andaccordingly, even when the paper label is pasted on the label regionand/or the region 36 capable of pasting a labels the label 31 is notraised in a projected shape in contrast to the face 38 having the labelregion. Therefore, even when the disk holder 225 is locked by the diskcartridge main body, not illustrated, dimension of outer configurationof the disk cartridge is not changed and accordingly, the disk holder225 can be mounted with no hazard to a recording and/or reproducingdevice.

[0076] Further, FIG. 19E is a side sectional view of an outline of adisk holder 235. The constitution and the function of the disk holder235 are substantially the same as those of the above-described diskholder 205 and accordingly, an explanation thereof will be omitted. Inthis case, label regions and/or the regions 34 and 36 capable of pastinglabels are provided on upper faces and a front face of the disk holder235. Further, the label regions and/or the regions 34 and 36 capable ofpasting o labels are formed in shapes recessed by 0.2 mm or more incontrast to the faces 37 and 38 where the regions are installed.

[0077] An effect thereof is similar to those explained in reference tothe above-described FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C and 19D and accordingly, anexplanation thereof will be omitted.

[0078] Further, the recess portions of the regions may be provided at aholder arm portion integrally constituted with the disk holder portion,or may be constituted to provide on side faces of the disk holders orside faces of the holder arms by which a similar effect can be achieved.

[0079] Although as mentioned above, an explanation has been given ofvarious embodiments, it is commonly constituted that a regionrepresenting information of a disk is provided at a disk holder and adisk is moved along with the disk holder and in any cases, there isachieved an effect capable of determining easily the disk by previouslywriting information of the disk directly to a label region arbitrarilyby the user and/or pasting information at the region.

[0080] By providing a region representing information of a disk at adisk holder, when the disk is moved between disk cartridges, the diskinformation held by the disk holder can simultaneously be moved and evenwhen the disk enters a disk cartridge, the content of the disk caneasily be confirmed via the disk holder.

[0081] Further, the content of the disk can also be written to or erasefrom a label region arbitrarily by the user and accordingly, easiness ofuse can significantly be promoted.

What is claimed is:
 1. A disk cartridge incorporating a disk-shapedrecording medium and having an opening portion for carrying out arecording and/or reproducing operation by a recording and/or reproducingdevice; the opening portion being closable so that the disk-shapedrecording medium is shielded from outside by a shutter arranged at thedisk cartridge when the disk cartridge is outside of the recordingand/or reproducing device, and when the disk cartridge is inside of therecording and/or reproducing device, the shutter is moved to a positionwhere the opening portion is open so that the recording and/orreproducing device can carry out the reproducing or recording operationfrom or to the disk-shaped recording medium; and a disk holder beingarranged at the disk cartridge for holding the disk-shaped recordingmedium, the disk holder being configured so as to be mountable to a diskcartridge main body along with the disk-shaped recording medium anddetachable from the disk cartridge main body outside of the diskcartridge so that the disk holder holds the disk-shaped recording mediumindependent of any orientation of the disk holder and the disk-shapedrecording medium when the disk holder is detached outside of the diskcartridge; wherein the disk holder holds information in respect of thedisk-shaped recording medium, the information being presented in or by arecessed portion which is formed in a portion of the disk holder.
 2. Adisk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the information ispositioned on a bottom surface of the recessed portion formed in theportion of the disk holder.
 3. A disk cartridge according to claim 1,wherein the information is positioned in the recessed portion andincludes at least information indicative of a side face of thedisk-shaped recording medium incorporated in the disk cartridge.
 4. Adisk cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the information ispositioned in the recessed portion and includes at least informationindicative of content of the disk-shaped recording medium incorporatedin the disk cartridge.